Reconnecting
by WinterFairy7337
Summary: Set in the year 2019. A year and half prior, Trish left Dez to pursue a job opportunity in Washington DC, claiming that she needed to focus on her career path. But was the the only reason? / Multi-chaptered story . Dez/Trish, with small mentions of Austin/Ally. (I apologize for the bad summary, I'm not good at summaries...)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally.**

**A/N: **New fanfic! It's multi-chaptered, and it will be focused on Dez/Trish. The story takes place in the year 2019, after Team Austin has graduated college and gotten jobs in the working world. I was mostly inspired to write this after hearing the full story of how my parents got together…it's kind of a long story, makes me think it would make a good Hollywood movie. So, I took bits and pieces of my parents' story, changed a few things, and fit them into a plot for Dez and Trish.

I hope you all like this one. I'm not expecting to write a lot of chapters, probably less than ten chapters at least. Now, I should stop rambling. Please enjoy this prologue.

**Reconnecting**

**Prologue**

_Dez –_

_By the time you've had a chance read this note, I will be on a flight to Washington DC. Remember the job that I was offered a few weeks ago? I've decided to take their offer. Which means I'm leaving New York…and you._

_I'll explain._

_We're at such different points in our careers. You have yours all figured out, and I still haven't figured out mine. And for me to figure it out, I can't miss out on this opportunity. I need to take this job and focus on my career. _

_I'm sorry. I hope you understand. _

_Goodbye._

_Love, Trish_

~*~O~*~

The plane rode air currents up and down and then cheerfully dipped its left wing, as if to point out the city below. Washington D.C. The first rays of morning sun were beginning to peek over the horizon, bathing everything within its reach in golden-yellow radiance. 23-year-old Trish de la Rosa peered out the tiny window and studied the tall buildings and the city streets as the plane passed by overhead. Her stomach gave a half-nervous, half-excited lurch.

It felt like so long ago when the plane left the airport back in New York City. The flight to Washington DC was a little more than an hour long. Trish had slept for most of the ride, waking up only ten minutes earlier.

A friendly woman's voice came over the speakers. _"Ladies and gentleman, we will soon be beginning our descent," _the flight attendant announced.

"Finally," the dark-haired, bespectacled young man sitting next to Trish sighed happily. To Trish, he said conversationally, "My wife and kids are waiting for me at home."

"That's nice," Trish replied, wondering why he was telling her this. Maybe she could pretend not to be listening…

"I was on a business trip in Brooklyn for about a week and a half," the man continued. He was certainly being chatty at the moment, Trish observed. "I missed them all a lot. Joanna—my wife—and our kids, Riley and little Clara. She's turning three next month." Pause. "What about you? Got any family in DC?" he asked, smiling.

Trish, taken by surprise with the question directed at her, explained, "Actually, I'm going there for a job. But I do have an older cousin who lives in Washington DC. I'm staying with her until I can get my own apartment."

"Ah. Well then, I wish you the best of luck in your new job."

"Thanks—" Just then, the plane started to tip down and the landing gear clunked.

_Almost there_. The ground was quickly rushing up to give the plane a big, warm welcome. And just beyond the runway, Trish could see green fields and scattered trees hurtle past, growing larger by the second. Then, with a firm bounce on the runway, the plane settled on its wheels. Outside Trish's window, she could see the wing flaps dropping down.

As the plane began to roll along the runway, the speakers turned on again, but this time it was the pilot who spoke, announcing their arrival in Washington DC.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Washington National Airport. Local time is 6:30 AM and the temperature is 69 degrees Fahrenheit…"_

Six-thirty? That meant Dez was most likely still asleep—and he hadn't seen the note yet. He still had no idea that she had left New York City. Trish bit her bottom lip as a fresh wave of guilt washed over her. How would he react, when he read the note?

Had she done the right thing by just leaving that little slip of paper? Would he believe her reasons for leaving? What she'd written about needing to figure out her career path was _mostly_ true…

"…_Thank you for choosing United Airlines…"_

When the plane finally came to a full and complete stop, there was flurry of activity with passengers getting up from their seats to stretch out their arms and legs, and to retrieve their carry-on luggage.

Pushing her thoughts of Dez and the note out of her mind, Trish rose from her seat and shouldered her bag. It was nearly time to get off the plane—and step into the unfamiliar streets of Washington DC.

* * *

**A/N: **And that's the intro. Was it an okay start? Don't feel obligated to leave a review, but I do appreciate feedback.


	2. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally.**

**A/N: **I'm really, really sorry about the delay in updating! College and high school stuff. I've just enrolled in a college that's about two hours away from my home. I'm majoring in Health Science with a concentration in Communications Disorders…

Anyway, I'm not really satisfied how this chapter turned out. I can't help feeling like something wrong or something's missing. Despite that, I hope you all like chapter one… And a little thing I forgot to mention before, Trish will be somewhat out of character in this story mostly due to her growing up (also, for me, she's a little hard to write…). Dez will appear slightly out of character as well.

**Reconnecting**

**Chapter One**

In a relatively new, one-bedroom apartment in the bustling city of Miami, Ally Dawson was making banana pancakes. The brunette stood at the kitchen stove, clad in a flour-coated apron with a spatula in her right hand. She'd dragged herself out of bed early in the morning to cook the pancakes, following a homemade recipe written by her great-aunt Nadia. Baking ingredients and equipment were strewn across the countertop, and hot oil sizzled and popped on the stove as Ally poured the last spoonful of batter into the frying pan.

Once the pancake was done cooking, Ally scooped it up with her spatula and placed it with the other golden-brown pancakes on a serving dish.

"I smell pancakes!" a voice said joyfully through the apartment. Austin Moon entered the kitchen with a grin on his face. "They smell so good!" he added with a content sigh.

Ally smiled at her boyfriend and brought the platter over to the round kitchen table, where two plates as well as forks and knives had already been set up on the placemats. She took her seat next to Austin just as he began eating.

"What's your schedule for today?" he asked several minutes later, after he'd devoured three of the pancakes.

Ally took a moment to swallow the food in her mouth before answering, "Well, I have a meeting around ten-thirty with a TV show producer about writing a theme song for an upcoming sitcom. Then it's an hour piano lesson with the Kittredges' daughter, Suzy—" The Kittredge family were Austin and Ally's neighbors from downstairs. "—And another piano lesson with the Rubins' son. Oh, and I was thinking of giving Trish a call."

"Trish? When was the last time you heard from her?"

"Just two weeks ago," Ally reminded Austin. "We didn't have a lot of time to catch up, though. I'm going to call her again tonight and see if she could find time to come back to Miami for your birthday next week."

"Are you going to tell her that we invited Dez as well?"

~*~O~*~

_12:3r7 PM, Washington DC_

It was a grey and drizzly Thursday.

A few, small puddles formed on the sidewalks, and figures holding umbrellas or covering their heads with a hood strolled casually down the street.

Raindrops splattered on the windows of Martinelli's Italian Café, although the _plip plop_ sound they made couldn't be heard over the mix of conversations inside the restaurant. Those conversations were full of warm, friendly banter and laughter amongst friends and family members. Waiters buzzed about the dining area, and the air was scented with a rich, garlicky fragrance. Somewhere in the back of the café, sitting at a table next door to a potted plant, Trish was having lunch with her colleague, Rebecca.

Washington DC had been Trish's home for nearly a year and a half now, and between working at Comcast as an junior business analyst, she'd become good friends with Rebecca Gardner. The Maryland-born young woman held a job in the same company, as part of the information systems team. Rebecca, who started working a little more than three weeks before Trish, kindly welcomed her to Comcast when they met in a hallway, and offered show her around the building…thus, the beginning of their friendship.

In fact, Rebecca even helped find Trish an apartment, about two months after the latter moved to Washington DC. It was quite a relief to Trish, who had been living with her cousin Sarita in the spacious condo she owned with her husband…not that Trish wasn't grateful for Sarita's generosity in letting her take up temporary residence. She just felt that she was intruding on both Sarita and her husband's privacy. Plus, having her own apartment gave Trish more freedom. Which she really liked.

"So, what _was_ your first job?" asked Rebecca curiously. They had been chatting about their jobs at Comcast when the topic switched to the jobs that Trish held in the past.

Rebecca had been amazed when Trish told her how many jobs she had as a teenager, and how many times she quit or got fired.

"What was your first job?" Rebecca asked curiously.

"A hall monitor," she answered simply. "I was in kindergarten."

"And, uh, how long did that job last?"

"Four days. My hall monitoring job was sadly taken away when I got caught charging other kids in school to use the restroom…"

Rebecca grinned in amusement and said, "Only five years old, and already taking other people's money. Tsk, tsk, tsk," she added teasingly. "What did your mother have to say about that?"

"Well, first she gave me a stern talking-to, and then she told my dad about it as soon as he came home from work that evening. He was upset too, but I could sort of tell that he found it a little funny."

Rebecca laughed slightly. "Then you got a job at the bookstore, right?"

"Yeah, but not until I was thirteen," Trish replied just as a soft chiming emitted from her iPhone. The screen lit up with an incoming text message.

'_Looking forward to our date later!' _it read.

"It's from Jace, isn't it?" Rebecca smirked, seeing the text despite having to read it upside down.

"He's just talking about how excited he is about our date tonight," Trish said. She texted back a quick 'me too' with a smiley face, and put her phone back down on the table.

"Where's he taking you this time?"

"I don't know, actually. He hasn't told me anything. I guess he wants it to be a surprise."

"Oh. I wonder what it is." Rebecca paused, seeming in thought. "You know, you and Jace have known have known eachother for almost four months now. I'm surprised you two aren't getting a little more…well, serious."

"Wh-what?"

It was true that Trish had known Jace Collins for a good four months. Their very first encounter happened when she literally bumped into him on Chestnut Avenue. She had not been watching where she was going, and their collision with each other resulted in her losing balance and gaining a mildly sprained ankle when she fell. Jace, a physical therapist in training, helped bring her back to her apartment—which, thankfully, had been very close by—for both rest and recovery. And so, while her foot was propped up on a pillow with an icepack over her injured ankle, Jace made hot chocolate for the two of them and they sat on his couch with their drinks and chatted for quite a while, leaning a few things about one another.

Trish, for instance, learned that Jace was originally from suburban Albuquerque. He was the oldest child of three siblings, and his younger brother's struggle with weak muscles in the past and the physical therapy that he received was what inspired Jace to study the line of work. She also learned that he had mostly been a straight-A student back in high school and his favorite subject besides biology had been history.

Before Jace left later in the early evening, he first promised that he would check up on her sprained ankle the next (Saturday) morning. Then he suggested, if she wanted to, they could go see a movie together as a date after her ankle was healed. Trish wasn't exactly sure what made her agree to the whole movie idea. Maybe it was because Jace had been so kind to her, and she felt that she should give him a chance…

And she did. They went on three other dates after the first one.

"No, we're taking it slow. Although…lately I've been getting the feeling that he wants us to be serious," Trish confessed. I don't think I'm ready for that…" She trailed off.

"Because of what you left behind in New York?"

Trish didn't respond right away.

~*~O~*~

The rain had lifted sometime during the four remaining hours of Trish's day at work after her lunch break. She endured a heavy workload of gathering data reports, as well as organizing and documenting them. Fortunately, time seemed to fly by and before she knew it, it was a quarter past five and Trish was able to leave for the day. Her apartment was not too far from Comcast. Passing by a few small shops…crossing the street…then passing by a few more shops, she reached her destination within ten minutes.

Once she'd returned to her apartment, Trish changed out of her work clothes and into something more date-appropriate. She went with a leopard print t-shirt, a cardigan, and dark leggings. She also pulled her hair back and adorned it with a headband.

Around six o'clock, Jace came around to pick her up. He smiled at her when she stepped out into the hallway. His toffee brown hair was neatly combed back and the green shirt he was wearing brought out the color of his eyes.

"Hi, Trish," he said brightly.

"Jace," Trish smiled in return. She closed the door shut behind her and asked, "So, you want to tell me where we are going?"

Jace answered once they began walking down the hall. "I'm taking you to the Museum of American History," he announced. "They've opened a new exhibit recently, I thought it would be fun if we went to check it out. What do you say?"

"The museum, huh?" Trish wasn't sure if she liked the idea so much (she'd always found history a tad boring…), but she decided to just go with it "Sounds interesting."

"Great, then let's go."

~*~O~*~

Trish blinked in bewilderment at the object before her line of sight.

The museum's brand new exhibit turned out to be homage to the War of 1812, all set up close to the Star Spangled Banner exhibit. There was a grand display of artifacts such as an old musket and even a soldier's knapsack. Trish was looking at a large block of charred wood that apparently came from the White House in 1814.

_What's so important about this burnt wood?_ she wondered.

Jace was all too excited to tell the tale behind the charred wood.

"…It was on August 24th in 1814, two years into the war, when British troops marched into Washington DC and attacked by setting fire to many of the city's public buildings, including the White House and other government facilities. To think, this piece of wood came from such a huge event that happened 200 years in the past," he added, grinning from ear to ear. "It's pretty cool!"

Jace went on to describe, in some detail, the history behind most of the other artifacts in the War of 1812 exhibit.

Afterwards, Jace steered Trish toward the Star Spangled Banner exhibit, a two-story display of the preserved U.S. flag that inspired the national anthem. Trish had to admit to herself, it was pretty impressive…

~*~O~*~

"I had a great time tonight," Jace stated some two hours later, as he and Trish walked back to her apartment.

They stopped in front of her door. Jace leaned it and planted a light kiss on her cheek. "Well, I'd better head home and get some sleep," he said. "I've an early start tomorrow. I'll see you sometime later?"

"Yeah, I guess we could have dinner together after we both get off from work," Trish suggested. Jace agreed.

"Good night, Trish," he said with a warm smile.

"Good night."

With that, Jace went on his merry way. Trish watched him leave until he disappeared around the corner, and then she went into her apartment.

It wasn't a huge place, yet cozy. She had a living room with a TV, a lavender colored rug, and a small, light purple couch. She also had a kitchenette with a table and two chairs, as well as a bedroom and a bathroom.

She plopped onto the couch, closed her eyes, and sighed heavily as she leaned her head against the palm of her right hand, wanting to take a moment to rest after a long day.

Then the phone rang.

Though she was annoyed by the interruption, Trish stood up and dragged herself over to her kitchen to pick up the phone. But once she caught a glimpse at the caller ID, all of her annoyance was replaced by a blend of surprise and delight. Ally was calling. Her best friend since kindergarten.

"Hey, Ally," she greeted.

"Trish!" Ally exclaimed on her end of the phone call. Trish winced at the volume of her friend's rather…loud voice. "Oops, sorry Trish, did I speak too loud?"

"Just a smidge," Trish answered wryly.

Ally chortled, "Sorry. Anyway, I called to see how you're doing. It's been a few weeks since we last had a proper conversation."

"Things are fine here. I've just been a little busy. What about you and Austin? How are you guys these days?"

"Good…we're both good," Ally replied slowly. Trish thought about to comment on that when Ally spoke again. "Speaking of Austin, his birthday is coming up soon."

"Oh, is it?" Trish did some quick thinking. If today was April 7th, and Austin's birthday was on the sixteenth, then it was little more than a week from now. "Well, wish him a happy early birthday for me."

"Or, perhaps you can tell him yourself when you visit Miami the weekend after next."

"Huh? Wait, why am I getting the feeling you didn't call just to say 'hello'?"

"You're good. Anyway, I also called to see if you were available to, maybe, come back to Miami for Austin's birthday? I'd love it if you'd visit with Austin and me for a few days. You can stay at our place. What do you say?"

Trish stammered, "I-I don't know, Ally…"

"Come on, Trish," she interjected. "I haven't seen you in almost a year. Besides, don't you miss Miami?"

Trish bit her lip nervously. Ally sure knew how to guilt trip someone. And the mention of Miami did, in fact, make her realize how long it'd been since she had last stepped foot in the city she grew up in.

Too long…

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to visit Miami for a little while. A week, even.

"Alright," Trish said finally. "I'll ask my boss for a couple days off." She could almost imagine the smile that was probably forming across Ally's face.

"Great!" she said, thrilled.

* * *

**A/N:** To be continued. Originally, I was going to end this chapter with a scene of Trish looking through photos of Team Austin on her laptop, but I've decided to include it in the next chapter instead.

So…Trish and Jace. Don't worry, everyone, Jace won't be much of a conflict in the story. I added him because most of the plotline is based loosely on my parents' story…

All the information I put in the scene with Trish and Jace at the museum is taken from what I learned about the War of 1812. I, unlike Trish, do have an interest in history. And the piece of burned wood…is actually something that I found when I Google searched "war of 1812 artifacts".


End file.
